SAO-The Unknown Three
by bot writereasy
Summary: Three players encounter a bug in SAO. They try to use a bug to get back, but...


What if the world of SAO is not perfect but with some bugs? What if the world of SAO is not a simple program?

**The escapist?**

"Pay attention! Another wave of attack is coming! Damn it, I'm poisoned. Yuji, throw the healing portion towards me! Keito, Let these disgusting creatures know the sharpness of your sword!" The man who is shouting is our team leader called Tanaka Kenyiji. He's our tank in this world while he's an ordinary employee living alone in reality. He seems to be quite involved in this game because he views this game as a thorough escape from the reality. I know that he's not successful in his career. Yuji is an optimistic person who responsible for the backup of team. He believes that we can come back to the reality alive. However, when we ask him about his reality life, he often uses silence as reply. I suspect that he actually pretends to be optimistic and he misses his family. Keito, that's my name. I'm just an ordinary university student. It's almost a year since I was trapped in this virtual world. It seems that my roommates have sent me to the hospital or I may have already dead of malnutrition. I want to get back because I don't want to live under the threat of death. Every minor fault not only lead to a game over but also the end of my life. To be frank, I'm really afraid of death, at least more afraid than my other two teammates.

I've heard that the walkthrough team has just reached the 40th floor. Far, too far from the 100th floor. I can't imagine how long it will take to finish the game and release all of us. But I have to admit that players in walkthrough team are far better than us. Once I saw a saber with a black cloak and sword. He dodged rain-like attack from the boss with his remarkable reaction speed. Then He performed several slashes in only one second. Before I realized, the boss of that floor was turned into pieces. I don't know his name. But he may be the one who finally save all of us.

"Skill, cross slash! Skill, whirlwind!" After a while, there are only coins left. "Nice work, Keito. These coins are enough to buy us a better armor." That's why we are here. The guide left by the walkthrough team says that this cavern is a good place to hunt for coins. "Let's go deeper. The guide says that there may exist treasure boxes."I suggest. "Yuji, check our supply. 20 bottles? Great. That's enough for further explorer."

The cavern is a dark one. Without the fire mineral we bring from 24th floor, we should have seen nothing. The low-rank monsters like bats and slime keep attacking us. But we easily finish them with one hit. Finally we come to a fork road. "It should only have two directions,the right and the left, according to the guide. What is the middle one for?" I'm confused. "It can be a great discovery. Or maybe the walkthrough team has hidden something in it. In brief, we should give it try." Youji suggests. We use our fingers to slide something in the air. We are examining the system time. It's 3 p.m. We ought to be back before 6 p.m. It seems that we can spend one and a half hour exploring it. We have eye contact with each other and go into the middle one.

I have to admit that this is the rugged path I've ever walked. The wall of the cavern looks like separated parts stuck together in a really rough way. "Ying-" An ear-piercing sound fulfill the cavern. It doesn't sound like creature. "Get ready. It's going to be a tough battle." "But...what the hell are we going to fight with." I cried. In front us is a huge "thing". I have to describe in this way because it looks like a chimera but far more weird. I can clearly recognize the origin of each part of it. Some are from bosses while other are from...buildings. The most dangerous part is its head. Its a head from a lightning dragon which is the boss of 38th floor. The walkthrough team defeat the dragon at the cost of several lives. "Look at that head. We can't defeat it. It's not worthy of dying here." I get ready to run. But it's too late, the lightning already comes. I'm so frightened that I can't even move a step. Luckily, it misses. "Relax, it can't hurt you," Yuji starts to talk, "The monster is assembled in such a terrible way that every part is functioning against each other. Maybe we can defeat it easily." As he talks, another lightning comes, but it misses again. I begin to trust Yuji. I realize that it's even impossible for this thing to keep balance.

There's nothing easier than killing a "thing" that can't hurt us. But why does it exist? The world of SAO has a complete simulated ecosystem. It's not a predator, but it's also hard to imagine its being eaten. I suddenly recall some basic programming knowledge learned from school. If there's a stack overflow, the variable may access data for something else. However real this world is, it is still a program and it should have bugs. The "thing" could be the result of a bug similar to stack overflow. Maybe this extra direction is generated in this way. That could account for why it's not recorded on the guide.

I share my thoughts. Yuji seems to be wild with joy, "It can be a way to escape from this damn world. If we go deeper, we may be able to use the 'log out' that is locked by the creator. Finally, Finally...I'm heading home." "Be careful. This indicates that we are under a more dangerous situation than we previously thought. Let's constantly check the 'log out'. If we encounter monsters, we'd better run. I don't think we are so lucky that we can keep meeting such a weak chimera."

We step forward at a lower speed and constantly throw an item called color cobblestone to check whether there are dangers ahead. The deeper we go, the more amazed we are. We don't meet any aggressive things. Instead, we observe that some parts of the cavern are extremely dark while others are unnaturally bright. On top of that, some parts of the wall becomes white. To be more specific, like the one you see in the modeling software without any decoration. We are more convinced that this is an area with every possibility. Our hope to home is here.

I take a look at the system time to estimate how far we have gone. But unfortunately, the timer seems to break down. It's 4:20:59 p.m. But when it turns to 4:21:00, it will immediately go back to 4:20:59.

"The 'log out' is available!"Yuji suddenly cries. "Wait the it's a little 's..." Kenyiji tries to stop us. But it's too late. We have already pressed.

Kenyiji hesitated, but he finally decided to go with us.

It was not a "log out" but a "log?o**u/+t #".

If I thought about the abnormal time twice at that moment, I may figure out the meaning of "log?o**u/+t #".

But all is too late.

What is waiting us is not reality, but our true adventure.


End file.
